Fifth grade elementary students’ conceptions of earthquakes

Earthquakes are one of the most destructive natural disasters for many countries all over the world. Turkey is one of the most seismically active regions on earth due to the complex plate interaction between Arabia, Eurasia and Africa (Tan, Tapırdamaz, & Yörük, 2008). Ninety six percent of the country falls under the earthquakes zones while 99% of the population lives in hazardous earthquake areas (Türkoğlu, 2001, as cited in Öcal, 2005). The most active fault zone in Turkey, the North Anatolian Fault Zone, passes near Istanbul and other major urban cities (Taymaz, Tan, & Yolsal, 2012). Turkey has experienced several destructive earthquakes throughout history. Two major earthquakes happened in 1999 in Gölcük-İzmit and in Düzce and thousands of people lost their lives and homes (Taymaz et al. , 2012). The recent destructive earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.2 on October 23, 2011 occurred in Van, the region of Eastern Turkey and caused significant damage and losses, including of 644 lives (Erdik, Kamer, Demircioğlu, & Sesetyan, 2012). Although it is impossible to prevent earthquakes, the damage of earthquakes can be reduced by increasing people’s knowledge and awareness about earthquakes (Aydın, 2010; Buluş-Kırıkkaya, Çakın, İmalı, & Bozkurt, 2011; Buluş-Kırıkkaya, Oğuz-Ünver, & Çakın, 2011; Lacin-Simsek, 2007; Nalçacı, 2011; Öcal, 2005; 2007).

Towards this aim, some researchers have undertaken studies to investigate students’ conceptions of earthquakes. One of the earliest studies focusing on students’ conceptions of earthquakes was conducted with 91 elementary students by Ross and Shuell in 1993. In their study, two thirds of the students defined earthquakes as a shaking/trembling of the ground while most of students’ responses addressed the results of earthquakes, such as property damage and deaths or injuries. Twenty percent of the students confused earthquakes with volcanoes. While most of the students did not respond with regard to what causes an earthquake, a few students (6-13%) did state that faults are the cause of earthquakes. Tsai (2001) conducted interviews with 60 fifth and sixth graders in a total of four rounds after the major earthquake in Taiwan. The study revealed that although immediately after the earthquake students received scientific information about the causality of earthquakes from the public media and formal schooling, many students attributed the causes of earthquakes to supernatural forces and myths. Özdemir, Ertürk, Güner, & Koca (2002) conducted interviews with 89 elementary students in grades 1 through 5 in two different cities in Turkey in order to investigate their awareness and ideas about earthquakes. The study revealed that 26% of the students did not know what an earthquake was. Forty-four percent of the students defined earthquakes as ground shaking while 12% of them defined it as a natural disaster. Seven percent of the students defined earthquakes as damage to people and buildings. The findings of the study indicate that 56 % of the students are not aware of the causes of earthquakes. Buluş-Kırıkkaya, Çakın, İmalı, & Bozkurt (2011) collected data via open-ended questionnaires from 96 4th and 5th grade students and found that they defined an earthquake simply as a natural disaster and quake. In their study, most of the students did not know that they were living in an earthquake zone. Lacin-Şimşek (2007) also conducted interviews with 40 students from kindergarten through 8th grade in order to investigate what ideas they might have about earthquakes and methods of protection. The findings of the study reveal that none of the students could adequately or scientifically explain the causes of earthquakes.

Aydın (2010) investigated students’ conceptions of earthquakes by asking two open-ended questions to 480 eighth grade students and organized them into six categories: (1) An earthquake is a natural disaster, (2) An earthquake is ground shaking, (3) An earthquake means collapsing buildings and deaths of people, (4) An earthquake is a natural disaster and its damage can be reduced if necessary precautions are taken in advance, (5) An earthquake is ground shaking as a result of movement of ground and plates, and (6) An earthquake is ground shaking caused by the release of energy depending on the movement of plates.

Rakkapao, Arayathanitkul, Pananont, and Chitaree did a further study with 171 high school students in Thailand in order to investigate their misconceptions regarding earthquakes. This study revealed most students alternative conceptions that all earthquakes create observable cracks on the Earth’s surface. Students in the study also believed that when an earthquake occurs, the earth shakes at least once every 10 seconds for a period of at least 1 minute and all earthquakes damages manmade structures. More than half of the students (51%) thought that the weather, such as rain, was the main source of earthquakes while 15% of them thought that volcanic eruption was the main cause of earthquakes. They also stated that earthquakes often take place near islands. Only 14% of the participants showed a scientific understanding that when an earthquake occurs, energy is released from inside the Earth and only 13% of the students correctly explained that an earthquake occurs as a result of the rupture and sudden movement of crust at plate boundaries.

Although there have been some studies investigating Turkish students’ conceptions of earthquakes, some of the data collected was only through an open-ended questionnaire (Aydın, 2010; Buluş-Kırıkkaya et al., 2011) while others (Laçin-Şimşek, 2007; Özdemir et al., 2002) were conducted prior to the revision of Turkish national curriculum (MEB-TTKB, 2007). According to the national elementary curriculum in Turkey, students should learn the fundamental concepts of earthquakes by grade 5. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to conduct an in-depth analysis of grade 5 students’ conceptions of earthquakes from both scientific and social perspectives. The study investigated the following research questions:

What are the fifth grade (10-12 years old) students’ conceptions of earthquakes?
What are their ideas about the cause of earthquakes?
What awareness do they have regarding precautions to be taken before earthquakes? (at school, at homes, and outside the home)
What do they know about precautions to be taken during an earthquake?(at school, at homes, and outside the home)
What are their ideas about the consequences of earthquakes?